The Contract
by th3collection
Summary: After being brutally rejected by Sasuke, Sakura wanders around the base of the Hokage monument. She stumbles across the resting place of a creature of the old world; Accidentally waking the demon from its slumber, she mistakes it for a God and wishes to become strong. Amused and left without a body, the demon grants her wish, taking Sakura's body and soul as collateral.
1. Chapter 1

" _Eating his wings variable, and maketh himself yet full stable. When all his feathers be from him gone,_

 _he standeth still here as a stone: Here is now both white and red._ _And all so the stone to quicken the dead. All and some_

 _without_ _fable,_ _both hard and soft and malleable. Understand now well and right, and thank your God of this sight."_

{ _The Ripley Scroll}_

* * *

She was young, and she understood that, but that didn't make her feelings any less real. She'd give anything for him. She _loved_ him from the first moment she'd laid eyes on him. He was just _perfect._

 _Too perfect._ He watched the world with a sort of cold fury, a cold fury that was just simply, Sasuke. He was beautiful. He was stoic, surrounded by an untouchable aura. He was like a reflection in water, the closer you got, the quicker he disappeared. He was Sakura's everything. Twelve year old Sakura was _bewitched._

 _She was infatuated; Obsessed._

Sakura walked slowly through dark empty streets, barely holding back the blubbering mess she was inside. Tears had started spilling over, she felt her throat tightening. It hurt. She loved him so much, _so why doesn't Sasuke-kun love me?_ She thought, aggressively rubbing offending tears from her eyes. It was late, late enough that the only thing that could be heard was her hushed sobbing.

She looked up at the stone faces of the previous Hokages, their faces almost mocking her in her blurry daze. God, she felt so _pathetic._ The day had started just as any other.

Sakura rolled out of bed, bright and early. She just had a feeling, today would be the day. _Sasuke-kun will definitely be mine today._ She reassured herself, _Ino-pig will see! Sasuke loves me NOT her!_ Sakura nodded to herself as she started opening drawers in search of something to wear. She decided on her favorite red kimono, sure she wore it everyday but still, her mother said she looked cute in it and she thought Sasuke-kun would agree.

Once dressed, Sakura fished out a comb and started on her hair. She had such pretty pink hair, a vibrant pastel reminiscent of the flower she was named after. She had grown her hair long because she had heard from some girls at school that Sasuke-kun liked girls with long-hair.

Sakura set the brush back on her bed and exited her room. She greeted her parents who sat happily at a table enjoying breakfast. Sakura walked up to her mother and hugged before tugging on some shoes and opening the front door. "Bye mom, dad. I'm going now." Sakura called over her shoulder. She the turned and left the house, pulling the door shut behind her, ignoring her parents morningly two cents, off somewhere in her own-Sakuraland.

Today was the day, today she'd confess to Sasuke-kun and then _he'd fall in love with her,_ and _they'd live happily ever after._ Sakura thought to herself in childish ignorance. ' _Cha! Sasuke-kun will love me and that'll show Ino-pig!'_ Inner Sakura declared pumping a fist high.

Sakura walked the streets of Konoha hoping she wouldn't have to deal with Ino, _Ino-pig was the worst._ Sakura thought, a frown marring her features. Surely enough a flash of white-blonde hair pops up in her peripheral vision and she finds herself being shoved aside.

"Forehead outta the way!" Screeches Ino. Sakura balls her fists and grunts in anger, shoving Ino back as hard as she can. Together the two push against each other in a race to konoha's ninja academy. A race to _Sasuke-kun._ "Sasuke-kun is mine, move Ino-pig!" Sakura exclaims, pulling ahead of Ino and rushing through the academy entrance. She pushes Ino back as she throws slams open the classroom door and enters the room. Sasuke-kun sits in his seat staring out the window leaning his chin on his palm. _In that moment, nothing really exists to him._ He looks lost in his thoughts but there's some level of peace that is absent. There's a restlessness to him. _He looks angry._ Sakura gulps as she musters her courage and strides clumsily up to him.

"Sasuke-kun...I love you!"

Sakura nervously yelps out, her heart racing and her face beat red. Murmurs of ' _I can't believe she did it.'_ could be heard in what was otherwise, total silence. A moment passes and...nothing happens. Sasuke remains looking out the window not sparing Sakura a glance. _Like she doesn't even exist._ Sakura, refusing to take the hint pushes again in what might have been insanity.

"Sasuke-kun I want to be with you! I love you Sasuke-kun!" Sakura says wringing her hands together, leaning slightly forward over the desk row Sasuke sits at.

Still, she is ignored.

A feeling of total horror unfurls in Sakura's chest and it becomes harder and harder for her to breathe. There's no going back now. She needs an answer, if not she thinks she may really _go insane._ "Sasuke-kun, don't you want to be with me too?" She rushes out, proud that she managed to keep a stutter from her voice. Finally he turns to her. He looks through her with an expression of total annoyance. That look, oh god _she hates it._ His eyes narrow and his lips are pulled into a straight line… It's not a frown, it's blank. Sasuke observes her with refined obsidian orbs. His mouth opens after what was seemingly an eternity to Sakura. He speaks little but his point is made all in a single word.

"Obnoxious."

A single word, and just like that Sakura's perfect _Sasuke-kun_ shattered her entire world. "Hey Sakura-chan…" Naruto starts and puts a hand on her shoulder but Sakura is not having it. "No!" She screams, shoving him away and storming out the classroom, running past Iruka as he steps into the room. Sakura can't believe it. _Sasuke-kun hates me._ Sakura thought as tears started leaking from her eyes.

She ran straight home, throwing the front door open-leaving it ajar, effectively interrupting her parent's breakfast. She rushed straight into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her and flopping face-first onto her bed.

She's an emotional wreck. "Sasuke-kun." She cries into her pillow, muffling her whimpers. She feels so… _Pathetic. She's Pathetic._ A few minutes pass and her mother knocks on her door. "Sakura, sweety? Are you alright in there? Why aren't you at school…?" Her mother speaks hesitantly only to in turn be ignored. Sakura can't speak, she's too upset. Her mother tugs on the door handle a bit, finding it to be locked. Relenting with a sigh, "I'll be downstairs with your father if you need me. Please come talk to me, Sakura, your father and I are worried." The woman speaks and shuffles away from the door and back to what Sakura assumes to be down the stairs.

She cries the day away, unmoving, laying face-down; Pretending that she doesn't exist. She's heartbroken, she was humiliated and mortified. _She isn't good enough, she isn't good enough for Sasuke-kun._ Sakura loves him so much, she's loved him from the very first... _but that doesn't really matter, does it? No. Not now, now… I just wish I wasn't so pathetic._ Sakura thinks, adorning a grim expression on her face. She closes her eyes and eventually her breathing evens out and her heart slows. She falls into a deep sleep, hoping that just maybe the events of the day had been just a terrible dream.

When Sakura woke she turned over and stared at the ceiling. _The universe must hate me, if only… if only I hadn't been so damn pathetic. I'm weak. I'm so weak._ Sakura thought, gritting her teeth. She sits up and turns to look out her window. It's dark already, she really had slept the day away. Her mind is still fuzzy and her heart aches. She stands, clutching a hand to her chest and walking to her door. She silently pulls it open and walks into the hall. The house is still, she can hear the soft vague sounds of snoring coming from her parents room. They've already went to sleep, it's much later than Sakura originally thought.

She walks swiftly down the stairs and looks around in consideration, she drops her hands to her sides and shakes her head. She feels strange, _out of place._ She can't be here right now. With that thought in mind she walk out the front door and into the night. Thankful for once, having been born into a civilian family. She'd been quiet but, heh _not ninja quiet._ She shakes her head again mustering a somber smile. More of a grimace really.

Here she is, Sakura stands at the base of the Hokage monument staring up into the sky and silently cursing her fate. Cursing herself for being weak. And finally cursing God for making her so weak - for making Sasuke-kun so perfect and her so _pathetic._ The moon is bright and illuminates the darkness. She continues forward, looking straight ahead. Not paying any mind to her feet as she moves.

That was a mistake, she soon realizes as she stumbles forward over what likely was a rock. Admittedly she's training to be a ninja, she isn't one yet and thus her reflexes suck. She falls onto the ground with prompt "oof" as the wind is knocked out of her. It takes her a moment to right herself again, she sits facing monument rock wall rubbing her knees - which, she managed to scrape in the process of falling. They sting, and she feels warmth rush through them; a telltale sign that her clumsiness has granted her a bloody mess of shredded skin. _Great._ She admonishes.

It's then that she notices a tunnel like cavern slightly to her left. She wants to smack herself for not noticing earlier. _It's creepy._ She decides. Perhaps insanity is the only explanation for her following actions, she knows that getting onto her hands and knees and crawling into what is a tiny tunnel-like cavern is idiotic.

It's too dark for her to see anything at all, straight pitch black nothingness in front of her. But still Sakura crawls further. Her bruised knees scraping against rock only bloodying them further and streaking a red trail behind her, she can imagine. She doesn't know how much time has passed but her mind has begun to wander. _Sasuke-kun._ His name once brought such happiness but now she feels only bitterness. Speaking it leaves a sour taste in her mouth and she feels utterly foolish, once again reminded of her poor choices.

She stretches her arms in front of her repeating a scuffling crawling motion further down the continually smaller hole. She feels a drop in front of her, the tunnel lead to a larger cavern? She didn't know, Sakura was only glad to have a enough room to move freely, the tunnel had been tight and uncomfortable. She stands and sighs, rubbing her wrists to help the soreness. She hugs herself and considers her life.

She had been born to a civilian family, a good family that loved her. She had once had a best friend but that had long since ended - she'd burned that bridge in pursuit of a boy who thought her to be nothing more than " _obnoxious"._ A boy she did everything for. He was her sun, her entire life was hinged around _Sasuke-kun._

Her world turned on its axis, her gut wrenched. A bitter grin making its way onto her face yet another time. And then, Sakura laughed. It was a soft murmur at first, like a whisper or a rush of wind through a tree. She held her sides and leaned forward, bowing her head. Her laugh turned hysteric, it was loud and maddening.

The sound reverberated off hard walls and grew even louder. Everything felt like it was shaking but Sakura couldn't stop. The flood gates had been opened and everything she felt rushed forward. She had been suffocating. _That boy. She loved him so much._ And in his eyes, she had been lower than shit. She felt many things, there was hurt, but more than anything else… She was furious. _If only… If only she hadn't been so pathetic._

And then, she stopped. Her mouth closes and she feels the hair on the back of spine prickle. Goosebumps dust her skin and cold gusts of air spits across her face. It's not right, something is wrong. Her laugh is still echoing far down the walls, it's back to a whisper now, course that's when she hears it. It's a humming sound at first, it vibrates. Reminding Sakura of a noise an animal would make. It stops suddenly creating a feeling of utter terror that sets Sakura's heart in rapid motion. Total and utter silence fills the space, the quiet pierced only by the sharp intake of the girl's breath and hammering heartbeat. Sakura does not know what is more daunting, the fact that she can't see her own hand in front of her face or the fact that she is slowly becoming more and more sure that there is _something_ here with her.

She feels around, groping rock in hope of finding the way she came. The more time passes, the more panicked she becomes. Her breaths come out fast and raspy, her heart is drumming in her ears, it's deafening. There's a scratching sound, to Sakura it sounds much like drawing two kunai together.

"You are afraid." A voice speaks, it's confident and laced with undertones that Sakura can't image a human making. It sounds foreign, spoken is some kind of odd broge. It's accented such as when one speaks a language they are not fluent in. Sakura is in shock and hasn't the will to respond. Gulping she steps back.

"I can smell it." The voice continues.

Sakura tries to relax, she's going to be fine-probably. _It's just some weird person, yeah that's it._ She stumbles out an answer, "I..I can't find….I can't find the way out. Please can you help me?" Sakura mutters.

" _Out? This one does not, understand.. That is not what you want most, is it?"_ The voice's tone turns pondering, Sakura has some difficulty understanding it. The accent is strong and… foreboding. It makes her feel uncomfortable. Finally: "No, I guess not. But It'd be nice." She urges. "...then what do you wish for the most?" It continues ignoring her attempts at, at what she isn't exactly sure of. There's an aura, she's untrained but she feels it. It's old and powerful. It's confident - without question and it makes her feel in turn _pathetic._ Again, she's reminded of him and she feels rage curl into the pit of her stomach.

"To become powerful, so powerful that Sasuke-kun and everyone else will never look down on me again." Sakura says not sure what possessed her to tell this to some stranger she can not even see. She waits for answer. "How far would you go?" The person says.

"Anything, I'd give anything." Sakura says clenching her fists.

"Heavy words girl, you mean them?" Sakura feels like she's made some sort of mistake but can't stop from digging the hole deeper.

"Yes." Sakura says unable to stop herself. "Then we have a deal." The words are spoken in glee and a deep laugh meets her ears. _Oh god,_ what did she do. Sakura's mouth feels as if it has been sewed shut. She feels herself falling, like she's paralysed.

"Who...No, what are you?" Sakura gets out feeling a sensation akin to being choked. There's energy it's easing into her hands and feet. Her hands and feet? She can't feel them… _Are they still there?_ Sakura doesn't know.

"My name has been lost in the ages, I am from the old world. A world absent of men, occupied only by monsters and Gods. My existence is not something one such as you could fathom." It continues. "Am I going to die here?" Sakura cries.

"Yes." The voice returns, adding "Your wish shall be granted but your body is no longer your own. I shall take the form of Haruno Sakura and take what you were unable. Your story has drawn to a close. Sleep now, know you will not be you when you wake." Sakura feels exhausted, she can't stop her eyes from shutting. In her last moments she thinks of Sasuke-kun, if only... _she hadn't been so pathetic._

The body of the girl named after a flower laid barren on the ground, the demon observes it coldly. Perhaps in her younger days she may have pitied this girl, but as time wore on, she like all others grew cruel. She needed a body, and now she had one. That is all. There is no savagery in this act, regardless of how unsavory or apathetic.

She slept for an endless span of time only to be awoken by this 'pink' girl. S _o be it then_. In a single fluid motion she joins herself with the corpse. It takes little time for her to attune herself with the fleshy meat suit. She holds a clawed hand in front of her face, practices flexing it a few times.

With great satisfaction she pulsates her energy, altering the chakra coils and by extension the outward appearance. Long pink hair bleeds black, skin whitens to a 'untouched by the sun' look, nails turn black; resembling something more of a claw and once green eyes become a vibrant orangey-red, teeth sharpen into perfect points, the lower back is adorned by moving black markings - the demon's pride - unfortunately, she had to hide her tails. Finally, muscles and curves become more pronounced. "Yes, this will do." The demon somewhat chuckles, taking form as a twelve year old girl was indeed quite amusing. She scrapes her nails into the rock.

With that thought she pushed herself into a stand and removed her presence from the cavern. Yes, it was underhanded of her to take this body but she had full intention of honoring her agreement.

The sun was rising, she found this to be rather displeasing. The stir of day creatures had begun, shinobi walked the streets and roofs, children did as children do, and civilians went about their morning routines. They had not noticed her, _perhaps that was a good thing?_ The demon was somewhat insulted, there was once a time she would have been worshiped… But this? She had not imagined being ignored. _Tsk_ , it did annoy her.

That was a good thing though, she did not need to attract the attention of the locals. This world was much different than the one she once knew. She'd conceal herself under the guise of this 'flower girl' for a bit longer and take the time to properly reincorporate herself into society. She'd take this world by a storm, regaining what was rightfully hers and not a damn thing was going to stand in her way. Releasing her grip over the girl, she slipped comfortably back into Sakura's subconscious... taking a back seat and silently observing.

Black and red faded into the infamous pink and green. Sakura stumbled and fell into the middle of the street. Her mind was in a sickened daze, the world was spinning and it wouldn't stop. With an attempt to pull herself together the pinkette begins to dry heave and promptly spew the entire contents of her stomach - or so she presumed, regaining her senses she quickly realized her error. It was not a previous meal she had violently ejected from her body but a coppery black substance.

Sakura, despite being a ninja academy student having only seen blood twice in her life; the color was wrong, but she knew beyond a doubt, that it was blood. _Disgusting._

With little help from the surrounding bystanders, Sakura began the trudge home. She considered the events of the night before, it all seemed so surreal. _Should she tell someone? Could she? Would it let her?_ Whatever the case, Sakura couldn't afford to consider that at the moment.

Sakura stumbles home, though it's by some kind of _damn miracle_ that she actually gets there. She crashes through the door and onto the floor. Her cheek bruising against the cold tile floor as a result of the aggressive impact, and a surprisingly sharp tooth snags her lip - tearing viciously at the skin, revealing more of that black coppery substance.

Sakura pushes herself back to sit on her haunches, pinching the bridge of her nose to try and stem the leaking magnesium, at the same time trying to massage the stabbing pains which hint of the existence of yet another bruise. Her efforts do no good, blood leaks from the corner of her mouth, splattering the floor.

Cursing in a very _un-Sakura-like_ way, she gets up and drags her weak form up the stairs and into her bathroom, leaving a black droplet pattern behind her - probably to cause her mother great concern when the woman finally starts her morning routine.

Sakura quiety slides the door shut behind her, securing it into place. She walks over the shower on shaky legs, weakly turning the faucet knob with some effort. Waiting for the water to warm, she strips off her torn and thoroughly stained clothing onto the floor.

She turns back and observes herself in the body length mirror she begged her parents to purchase for her. _In short, she looks like hell._

Her body is marked up with purple, her face included. It looks like she took on an entire army and lost. Her skin was whiter than usual, contrasting the violet hue even further. Heavy bags of insomnia ring her eyes giving her a ghastly sort of look, and her mouth is tinged with a grey-blue shade that'd naturally belong to a corpse.

Sakura's lip is split, the arch of her nose smeared with indigo, and her left cheek busted. Worse still, black blood drips from the corners of her eyes and ears. She reaches a hand up to cover her mouth and hacks up some more of the wet substance into her palm.

The girl's eyes widen in surprise, her nails are a similar dark tone. Blood wells in her nail beds and pools onto the floor. Sakura sniffles and begins to cry, rubbing at her face with her knuckles - pulling sourly at the crusted blood. Tears cascade down her cheeks, mingling with the flaking iron. "Why is this happening to me?" She gasps out, her voice cracking.

She expected no answer but, _"Is this not what you asked for?"_ Sakura stares at her reflection in shock. Watching the words spill from _her own lips._ It's Sakura's voice, but it's clearly not Sakura. In morbid succession, her left eye burns back into an _orangey-red._

"What are you?" Sakura questions her reflection. The girl's mouth twists into a feral grin, _"That's for you to decide, girl. Shall I be your savior or your jailer?"_ sharp teeth expose themselves as the words take shape.

"What's going to happen to me?" Sakura whimpers, tears leaking from only the remaining green right eye. Her face is a stunning display of asymmetry. The right and the left, green and red - good and evil.

The demon is silent for a few moments, suspense rocks the blossom girl's soul as she listens to the water patter against the shower curtain.

 _"There is only us."_ The girl's left eye creases in a smile, _"There is no you. And we will have everything that belongs to us."_ Sakura relaxes a bit, despite her previous observations, maybe the situation is not so dire as she assumed. This thing that's inside of her, she's sure that it's some kind of demon but maybe - just maybe, that's okay. Maybe, this is what she needed.

On her own, Sakura had been a _pathetic, obnoxiously weak_ girl. But, together, along with this thing… Sakura could achieve impossible feats of strength. _Sasuke-kun? He'd be the weak one._

New emotions coat Sakura's conscious, _influenced or no…_ She really is an entirely different person.

The next few hours pass quickly, after thoroughly scrubbing her skin to rinse away the grime, Sakura went back to her bedroom and began to prepare for school. Yesterday, had been a half day to review information and teams were not yet assigned. That'd be done this morning.

She dug through her dresser drawers looking for something wearable, she just wasn't feeling her usual pink today. With some luck she finds a sleeveless grey over-shirt. She slides on some red shorts and wraps her chest with a black bandage, letting the grey hooded coat hang open.

Sakura sweeps her hair back into a tight bun, a few strands hanging loosely - cupping the left side of her face, a few pieces slipping over the eye to obscure it a bit. Finally, she reaches for her forehead protector. She doesn't put it on immediately, she hesitates and stares down at it.

She couldn't remember the stigma that led her to wish for such a thing in the first place. _Why had she become a ninja? Had she seriously done something like this just for a boy? How intelligent of you, Sakura. Good move._ The girl shakes her head slightly in disapproval of her own acts, as if sicken by the thought.

 _No_ , whatever the reason… _the choice has been made, and the consequences paid._ Sakura could not regret now. _Then again, how could she? Especially when she was no longer Sakura anymore._

Sakura, the pinkette born to the Haruno merchant family. The girl who was naive and selfish. The girl who knew nothing of the world except an earnest infatuation for a broken boy. _That Sakura died._


	2. Chapter 2

"Between the husband and the wife,

espoused with the water of life;

But of this water thou must beware,

or else thy work will be full bare.

He must be made of his own kind."

{The Ripley Scroll}

* * *

 _Sakura never felt so alive._ Her emerald eyes glint in the sun, reflecting the light with a _not-so-subtle_ sort of gusto. A big _shit-eating_ smile plastered on her face, there's a beat to her step as she walks leisurely down the street towards the academy building. She holds her body with an inhuman elegance, something that's unique even to a shinobi's structured posture and cat-like movements.

New sensations dampen her senses, it's like she's experiencing the world around her for the first time. _What a beautiful existence_ , how hadn't she noticed before?

The pink haired girl was the subject of a lot of attention, not to the village shinobi of course - but to the civilians; and not solely for the fact that she's a girl with neon pink hair, but because she came from a prominent merchant family with lots of money. Sakura had actually been a large subject of controversy in recent gossip, neither her parents nor their family 'friends' could approve of her decision to become a _kunoichi._ Sakura wasn't exactly an easy person to say 'no' to, so her parents decided to humor her until she'd be assigned to a genin team. They came to the idea that she didn't possess skills beyond that of a _'paper ninja'._

They all thought she'd fail on her own and that'd be the end of it, course that was their error.

Though Sakura had already made three, far greater, mistakes of her own. First, she left her mother that disgusting _'treasure-trail'_ of a mess. She should've pushed down the excitement and turmoil and erased the evidence of the occurrences of the previous evening.

Second, she completely changed her behavior and appearance - making no effort to hide self-inflicted injuries. Had her hair been any other color, no one would recognize the _cherry blossom ninja trainee._ _She still looked like hell - a well-groomed, clean hell; but hell, all the same._

Her final mistake, and perhaps the most damning one: Sakura didn't greet the elderly civilian woman, her maternal grandmother, with a shred of recognition as the woman moved in her path. The woman had gasped, taken aback by Sakura's appearance. "Sakura! What happened to your face?!" The crone exclaimed. Sakura didn't spare her grandmother a glance as she sauntered forward.

She continued onward, her destination being her classroom. She's to be assigned to a ninja squad. Sakura felt no excitement about it, even though it should've been an _impressive accomplishment._

Sakura was the last to arrive to her classroom at the academy, she had walked slowly, enjoying and observing her surroundings. When she slid back the door and entered the room, all eyes turned to her.

"I will now be announcing… Haruno-san?" Iruka breaks off mid sentence, taking in the girl's appearance. Something was very different about her, no… Everything about her is completely different. The way she's dressed, the injuries, her posture, and even the simple detail that she's a few minutes late. "Iruka-san?" The pinkette quips, inclining her head in a slight tilt as her lips tense upwards in a stretched, unnatural smile. _Iruka-san?_ Sakura never addressed him so informally, she'd always been very polite and respectful. Still a bit perplexed, Iruka ignores the comment and opts to get on with the discussion - despite the fact that something is clearly 'off' with the girl. "Please take your seat, Haruno."

"As I was saying before I was interrupted: I will be announcing teams now…" Iruka continues. Sakura took a random empty seat instead of her usual one, her mind was still a bit distorted, and frankly, she couldn't remember which one was hers.

Iruka was not the only one to notice something strange about the resident pinkette. Sakura hadn't just seemed strange to one overly perceptive Nara, but a certain stoic Uchiha, loud-mouth Kitsune - that wasn't nearly as stupid as everyone assumed, and a fluffy Inuzuka pup, who were keenly aware of the obvious changes.

The reactions varied: curiosity, concern, concealed interest, and fear.

Sakura just patiently waited for her name to be called, all too aware of the attention drawn on her. She'd spent a long time thinking about that Uchiha boy, he'd been so important before. Sakura doesn't know why, the situation is surreal but it's not as if she feels that she's in a dream - _it's because she feels like she's been in a dream all her life and this is the first moment she's been truly awake._

"Squad seven: Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke." Iruka captures Sakura's attention once more.

As time draws on, more names are called and genin unit team leaders arrive and leave with their assigned students. Eventually, everyone aside from Sakura and her teammates have left. Even Iruka is absent.

The blonde fox-boy chooses that moment to approachher, "Sakura-chan, did somebody hurt you? You can tell me, I'll protect you… Believe it!" The Uzumaki hesitantly reaches out a hand and places it on her shoulder in a comforting manner, he moves slowly and flinches as if he expects to be hit.

Maybe 'old Sakura' would've obliged him but 'new Sakura'? The girl's head turns to him, her left eye burning into a deep orangey-crimson. "Kurama-kohai, do not concern yourself, these are simply flesh wounds. It shall be healed in no time. Though do tell this one… How are your stomach issues? I heard you ate something you shouldn't have." The pinkette remarks with a relaxed tone of arrogance, her voice coming off with layers of barely contained, feral spite.

The blonde boy is taken aback, not just because his 'dearest Sakura-chan' didn't hit him but because she spoke something strange to him. "Huh?" he asks the girl in confusion.

"You don't know, do you?" The girl shrugs accompanied by a throaty chuckle. She then shakes her head slightly as if to clear her mind and shifts her posture, suddenly silent. Her left eye quickly fades back into it's natural color. "Sakura-chan… What'd you mean by that?" Naruto asks hesitantly.

Sakura's face is blank. She shrugs off his hand and moves away from him. "What are you talking about? I didn't say anything." Sakura asks lightly, her voice coming out apathetic and drone-like, completely unfeeling. The change is sudden and alarming to the Uzumaki and Uchiha.

At this, even Sasuke's eyes widen a fraction and lock on Sakura, making no effort to hide his stare. To him, it's obvious that something is very wrong with the pink haired girl. The way she spoke and the weird thing with her eye only confirmed it, not to mention that she looks like she was in a serious fight.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Speaks a new presence standing in front of the doorway, it's a man with gravity-defying silver hair. The famous - no - infamous, copycat jounin. "Not that I actually care… But, meet me on the roof." He continues after a long pause before disappearing in whirlwind of leaves.

Sakura is the first person to the roof, this startles the Jounin, because she was there before him; Which shouldn't be possible… He takes a few moments to observe her - there's an inhuman quality to her that he can't place, so he shrugs it off as 'unsettling' and makes a mental note to be cautious of her. Kakashi admits that he'd be wrong to think the Uchiha has the highest potential.

Having his anbu rank striped on account of 'reckless field work' and 'ptsd' hadn't been how Kakashi imaged living out the last of his prime years, and he certainly hadn't planned on getting stuck with some unworthy, bratty genin. _He was just damned unlucky,_ even if it was his own fault. Really, Kakashi's just not the sort of man that takes responsibility for things in general, much less his own actions.

Anyways, it wasn't that big of an issue… He'd just fail them with the bell test the following day and then wash his hands of all of this genin nonsense.

A few minutes pass, marking the arrival of both Naruto and Sasuke. Both boys stare at the pink haired girl's back before taking a seat beside her on a concrete bench.

"Alright, let's all introduce ourselves now. Likes, dislikes, hobbies, and goals for the future." Kakashi speaks once everyone is seated. Not getting the response he hoped for, as he's greeted by blank faces and silence… "I'll go first. I'm Hatake Kakashi, I have many likes… My dislikes, well, I don't think I'll tell you that. Hobbies? I have lots of them, as for my goals, I can't remember." He shrugs.

"Your turn, blondie." Kakashi motions towards Naruto. Said blonde, takes a second to shrug off the ' _what kinda introduction was that? He didn't tell us anything accept this name'_ thought that his teammates share.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I like ramen but not the three minute wait! And I'm gonna be Hokage, believe it!" Naruto yells, causing Kakashi to wince and Sasuke to mumble something about ' _being surrounded by idiots_ '.

"Next, how about you… Mopey." Kakashi struggles to come up with a nickname. Sasuke grunts in annoyance before answering.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke. I don't particularly like anything. I hate most things. And my goal is not a goal, but something I will make a reality… And that is to revive my clan and kill a certain someone." His leans forward with earnest, inadvertently muffling his voice behind his hands which his supporting his head with seriousness.

"Okay… And finally, your turn, pinky."

"Sakura." The pink haired girl answers, her posture perfect. Hands folded neatly in the lap, back straight, head looking forward, and feet planted firmly on the ground. It makes her look like a lifeless doll.

"Anything else?" Kakashi sweat drops, of course he'd get the weird ones.

"Nothing else that's any of your business, Kakashi-san." Sakura speaks, in a monotone voice.

 _Well, so much for normalcy,_ Kakashi thinks to himself. He's got the kitsune jyuubi brat, an uchiha avenger, and a girl - that he's not sure about anything more than: ' _yeah, she's also a mental case'._

With a sigh, "Meet me under Hokage bridge at dawn tomorrow and don't eat anything." Kakashi says before disappearing once more.

Sakura promptly returns home after meeting her new 'sensei'. Her mother is waiting for her at the steps of the stairs.

"Oh my god, Sakura! What happened to your face? Your grandmother came over this morning telling me you were acting strangely. I tolerated this ninja-nonsense but no longer! And care to explain the mess I found this morning!?" The woman angrily yells at the pinkette, but at the girl's silence, the girl's mother explodes in a fit of anger. Haruno Mebuki always did have a bit of a temper and that would've bothered Sakura - had she truly been Sakura...

"Just wait til your father gets home! I'm sure he'll have something to say! You're in so much trouble, young lady!"

Sakura is still in a numb fog. She tries to slide past the woman, once again offering her no verbal response. "Sakura!" The woman grabs the girl's arm, gripping tightly and pulling with force. Sakura is not shaken by the movement in the slightest, but she snaps her head around to her mother. Sakura blinks slowly, a familiar flare of red stirs in both of her eyes, settling into a more ominous shade. Mebuki gasps as she watches in horror as her daughter's features shift.

Signature rosette locks become the color of ink and everything sharpens... "S...Sakura?" Mebuki questions nervously, her voice revealing her internal panic as her heart rate increases and her stomach lurches.

"No, no you're not my daughter!" The woman breaks into tears, her body shudders under the stress. Mebuki forces down the bile in her throat and takes a few frantic breaths before speaking again, "Who are you? Where is my, Sakura?"

"We are Sakura." The dark haired apparition answers, her mouth drawing into a cruel smile. The girl proceeds to open her mouth, revealing a set of razor sharp teeth and without pause, latches onto the woman's throat.

The next moments are eclipsed by a whirl of complete and utter violence.

Sakura clenches her teeth tighter, tearing away at the flesh like an animal as fresh iron flows past her lips. She feels a sense of pleasure as the taste hits her tongue - she's consumed by the delicious sensation, euphoria overcoming her mind as the woman's screams are choked by blood.

Blood spills everywhere in spurts, Sakura is covered in it. The demon sucks the liquid down feverishly, her claws scratching at her mother's body. Eventually, the action transitions into something even more despicable.

The girl chews and swallows large hunks of meat, ripping away at the body like a wolf would a deer.

Had the demon been kinder, maybe she would've spared the girl of her truth - but simply, it was kindness that was not in her nature. The demon allows Sakura to regain control, as _their_ eyes return to _their_ emerald color, the girl pushes herself off the corpse, letting it slop onto the floor is a squishy heap.

She throws herself back, scooting backwards on the floor until her back slams into a wall. Tears well in her eyes and she covers her face with blood drenched arms to try and hide from the scene laid in front of her eyes. She can't shield herself. "Oh god, what have you done?!" She screams and sobs. "You killed my mother! You're a monster!"

The girl's left eye flickers, _"I didn't kill your mother, you did."_ The demon converses, an illusion of the creature stands before the girl looking down at her. Though the image does not speak, and Sakura knows it's because the words are dripping from her own, traitorous mouth. Her body has turned on her - betrayed her. "Why? Why did you do this?" Sakura questions, pulling the arms to her sides and balling her fists.

" _It's in our nature. You made a choice girl, ready to pussy out already? You asked for power, now you have it. Anything you want, you can have."_

"I didn't know that you'd do this! I never would've went into that cave if I knew this would happen!"

" _Don't you lie to me, you know the real truth."_ The demon laughs tauntingly, " _Did you not enjoy my power? Did you not enjoy the Uchiha boy's attention? Did you not enjoy the feed?"_

"...I did." Sakura resigns in a tortured realization. "I'm the monster." The pink haired girl speaks quietly, unexpectedly offered a strange comfort by her _'unintentional companion'._

" _We are a demon, don't over complicate this. We must eat to live like all other creatures, we are no different from the humans in this aspect. Now pick yourself up accept reality. There is only one course of action, and that is forward."_ The demon stoically rationalizes before regaining control of their shared body and standing firmly, allowing her fingers to twitch - igniting a series of massive black fires around the Haruno residence.

The flames billow into one massive force that scorches the home, explodung windows outward and causing the wooden structure to quake before crumbling around the girl's form.

The blaze casts smoke into the air and it's not long before a civilian crowd gathers around the building, soon following, a dispatched anbu squad swarms the scene.

An anbu wearing a fox mask casts a water jutsu over the fire. When the black inferno dissipates, ninja swarm the remains of the home, yielding the recovery of a mutilated corpse of a woman and an un-singed pink haired adolescent who is covered in dried blood.

"Mebuki!" Kizashi shouts as he pushes past a boar masked ninja, falling to his knees as his eyes fall upon the silhouette of a body covered in a blood soaked white sheet on the lawn. Tears stream down the man's face. He turns to the anbu, "Where's my daughter?"

"Haruno Sakura has been transported to TI for questioning, as there's no evidence of an enemy nin attack, we need to investigate the cause of the situation as it may have resulted from a possible domestic dispute." An anbu answers soundly, before motioning for a team to remove the body, leaving the man to weep on the ground in outrage.

Elsewhere, an interesting report comes across Morino Ibiki's desk at TI headquarters. The scar faced man flips through a manilla folder that was passed to him, a few moments ago by an anbu; followed by the arrival of an unconscious civilian girl who was placed in integration cell thirteen. Ibiki lets his eyes scan over the pages, the file encased the civilian records of the Haruno merchant family and an incident report.

 _Haruno, Sakura_

 _Age 12, ninja academy graduate. Assigned to genin squad seven. Affilates:_ _Hatake Kakashi (Jounin sensei), Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto._

 _Clan affiliation; None_

 _Relatives: Haruno Mebuki (mother), Haruno Kizashi (father), Haruno Saiyumi (Maternal grandmother)._

 _Haruno has green eyes and pink hair, she placed #2 in her academy class and is known friends with Yamanaka Ino (Yamanaka Clan heir). Haruno is characterized by her budding intellect and infatuation with Uchiha Sasuke, the Massacre survivor._

Ibiki raises a brow at the information, finding nothing to be out of the ordinary. He turns to look over the incident summary before going to question the girl, wondering what was so serious that a merchant brat landed herself in the _special interrogation_ facilities. There's a knock at the door and he looks up to see Inoichi, motioning for the Yamanaka to wait for a moment he finishes scanning the words scribbled down onto the report.

 _Sometime in the late afternoon anbu were dispatched to the Haruno residence, alerted by large black flames that consumed the home. After the fire was put out, the disfigured body of Haruno Mebuki was pulled from the home as well as the unconscious Haruno Sakura._

 _No evidence of foreign ninja._

 _Suspected domestic abuse._

 _Further observation: Haruno Sakura had several injuries prior to the blaze and her homeroom teacher, Umino Iruka (chunin) testified that Haruno had been acting strangely the previous day._

Ibiki shakes grunts in response to the recently learned information, _so the anbu suspect the little girl murdered her mother and then decided to burn the house down..._ That's a bit more than just 'out of the ordinary'. Looking up, he briefs Inoichi before giving him the 'go-ahead' to interrogate the girl.

Inoichi nods to his superior before walking down the hall, followed by Morino who is a few paces behind. He stops in front of a door labeled '13' in bold letters, pulling the door open and sliding into the cell. Ibiki meanwhile stays outside and watches from an observation window.

Sakura is already awake but pretends to still be unconscious until the man she recognizes as Ino's father steps into the room. Sakura's hands are cuffed to the armrests of a metal chair, that's firmly bolted into the floor.

Chakra restraints are placed around her via a nylon rope that her torso is secured to the chair with. Her green eyes tremble and fill with tears. "Y..Yamanaka-san, why am I tied up like this? Where am I?" Sakura asks nervously as she sniffles her nose and water leaks from her right eye. "I'm here to question you Sakura, now relax and this will be as painless as possible." Inoichi informs methodically, trying not to let her tears effect him. Sakura is his daughter's best friend after all, he's watched the young girl grow up - he's known her ever since she was a much younger child.

Inoichi goes through the hand signs for his clan's renowned jutsu, "Shintenshin no Jutsu!" He announces as he slips into the girl's mind.

Had Sakura been a normal person this search would've revealed her memories and there'd be no way to deceive the Yamanaka clan head, however, the demon was a fickle creature - capable of many things. The demon only showed the Yamanaka what she wished him to see, she made it seem as if Sakura had no memory of what happened and that she'd simply been unconscious for the duration of the event. She lied to the man with false images and feelings, making him believe it was the pink haired girl's father that had killed her mother and inflicted wounds upon the girl's own face.

Relenting with his findings and violating protocol, Inoichi removed the restraints from the girl and pulled her into a tight hug against his chest, "I'm so sorry Sakura, I knew you couldn't have done this. Don't be afraid, I'll make sure he never hurts you again."

He feels her shudder in what he assumes are hushed sobs, he couldn't have been more wrong. The demon possessed teen smirked, laughing silently, causing her shoulders to shake.

"Come on sweetheart, I'll take you home." He tries to reassure.

"Y-yamanaka-san, I don't have a home anymore." Sakura whimpers.

"We'll find you a place to stay, it's okay." The blonde haired man pats her head before tugging her along.

Through a twist of events, Sakura ended up spending the night in a spare bed in the anbu barracks, rooming with a man in his early twenties. She only knew him as 'neko' - the anbu with a cat mask. She slept soundly, pleased to find all of her injuries healed overnight.

In the morning she showered and dressed herself in some of Neko's spare clothing - which, hung baggy on her petite form, and slid off her shoulders - and tied her forehead protector around her neck before leaving to meet her team.

The excitement had finally worn off.

Sakura strolled up to the designated meeting point for her squad. She arrived several hours late, making her the last to make her appearance. "Sakura-chan, where were you? Even Kakashi-sensei got here before you!" Naruto asks in his usual boisterously loud way of speaking.

The girl's eyes shifted to Sasuke for a moment, some of her prior apprehension showing through. Sasuke observes the pink haired girl through narrowed lids, _so her previous behavior was some sort of facade?_ Sakura seems to have regained some of her normalcy - she ignored Naruto, acted awkwardly and only seemed to focus on himself after all.

"I apologize for my late arrival, I had a personal issue to attend to yesterday and I had to find a separate location to sleep for the night as a result." Sakura explained with a low bow. "Is that why you're dressed in men's clothing?" Kakashi questions the girl, the fact that she was dressed strangely seemed to have gone unnoticed to the others; Well, that is until Kakashi mentioned it. "Huh!? Sakura-chan, you're not cheating on me, are you!?" Naruto yelled in false seriousness. Sasuke turned away with a huff before mocking his teammate, "She said she couldn't stay at her house last night, Dobe."

"Why couldn't you go home Sakura-chan?"

"There was a fire." Sakura's expression darkens momentarily.

"That sucks Sakura-chan, at least no one was injured though." Naruto blurts out without thinking, as he scratches the back of his head with a sheepish grin, attempting to reassure his crush.

"Someone died, Naruto." Sakura trails off, kicking at the ground uncomfortably. There's a painfully awkward silence that follows, Naruto's laugh dies in his throat and he splutters a bit. Kakashi decides it's time for him to intervene and move things along.


End file.
